Chapter two

The caves

Bella had known of Elijah Mikaelson ever since she was born. They grew up in the same village and their fathers were rivals. Still, that did not stop Bella from falling for Elijah. He was older than her by a number of years, and his maturity was one of the things that attracted her to him. unlike a fair number of the boys in their village, he wasn't childish and immature. He was a man.

Bella first realized her crush on Elijah when she was thirteen. She was walking in the village with her mother, off to see Ester Mikaelson and trade herbs. Ester was a witch and she didn't seem to like Bella and her siblings. Bella's powers were just starting to appear, as were Joseph's. Gemma, Adrian, and Adora's powers had already developed. Halia and Garrett were still too young.

"Come, Bella," Abigail said to her second youngest daughter. She was balancing a bowl of herbs in one hand and holding ten year old Halia's hand with the other.

"I have her mother," Bella assured her frazzled looking mother. She hurried to catch up to the two and grabbed Halia's hand. The little girl beamed up at her big sister and let go of her mother's hand.

Abigail smiled with gratitude at Bella. She was like a mini-mother, always helping her and taking care of her other siblings. She was a huge help. The three approached the Mikaelson home, and Bella distracted a fussy Halia while Abigail knocked on the door.

"Shh, Hallie, if you're good, I'll talk Gemma and Joseph into taking us to the lake," Bella bribed with a small smile. Halia's face lit up and she was instantly quiet. The lake was her favorite place, as was it Gemma's.

The door opened and an equally frazzled looking Ester opened the door, a three year old Henrik clutching to her dress. "Come in, Abigail, Halia… Bella," Ester said, moving aside to let the three in. Bella was only thirteen and already Ester could sense the power inside of her.

Ester led the three into the kitchen, where a ten year old Rebekah and an fifteen year old Kol were. Kol was bugging Rebekah, and the blonde kept glaring at her brother. But as soon as she saw Halia, Rebekah beamed and ran up to her friend. Halia let go of her sister's hand and met her friend halfway.

"Mother," Rebekah said to her mother. "May Halia and I-"

Ester nodded absentmindedly at her daughter, already going through the herbs Abigail had brought. The two young girls smiled and ran away.

"Bella," Abigail said, looking up at her. "Can you-"

Bella nodded and followed the girls out of the house. "Halia, wait up!" she called, running to catch up to the two.

Halia frowned. "Bella, Rebekah and I do not need you to babysit us," she informed her elder sister.

"Mother told me to watch you, so I shall watch you," Bella said in a calm tone, making it clear that she wasn't going anywhere.

Halia sighed and rolled her eyes at Rebekah, as if silently saying "aren't big siblings the worst?" Rebekah nodded sympathetically. She had four older brothers, she felt Halia's pain.

"Come Hallie, I want to show you a cave Nik showed me," the blonde said happily, leading Halia away from the house. Halia followed as did Bella, but the raven haired girl was apprehensive.

"Halia, I do not think that mother would want us to wander so far away," Bella started to say, but Halia silenced her with a glare.

"You do not have to come, Bella," she said coldly, making it clear that she wanted to be with her friend by herself. Bella sighed and kept quiet the rest of the walk to the cave Rebekah was showing them. When they reached it, Bella stayed outside of the cave, as to not hover.

"Yell if you come across danger," Bella told the two sternly. The girls nodded before running into the cave. Bella gnawed on her lip and sat down on the ground to wait for the two to return. She had a bad feeling about letting the ten year olds run into the caves by themselves.

She hummed softly to herself as she waited in the quiet woods. It was cloudy, threatening rain. Bella loved the rain though. She wished for it to rain so that she could go splash in the puddles with Halia and Garrett.

Booming laughter broke the calm silence and Bella instantly stiffened. She knew that it was dangerous to be alone in the woods, and she had no means of defending herself against a wild animal or human being that threatened her.

Bella relaxed when she saw the three oldest Mikaelson boys walking towards her; Finn, Niklaus, and Elijah. It seemed like the two oldest- Elijah and Finn- had taken Niklaus into the forest to teach him how to swordfight. Bella didn't doubt that Mikael had no clue about the training, and if he had, he would punish his sons severely- especially Niklaus. For some unknown reason, Mikael was especially cruel to Niklaus.

The laughter stopped when the boys saw Bella. She smiled slightly in greeting, raising her hand to wave at them. She felt her heart start to beat faster, feeling Elijah's oak brown eyes on her. the men acknowledged her with nods, knowing who Bella was because Ester and Abigail were friends and Erik and Mikael were rivals.

Bella looked down at the ground as the boys passed her. she was shy and self-conscious, especially when it came to boys. Suddenly, a scream echoing out of the cave caused Bella to jump up and sprint into the cave. She ignored the shouts of the boys, only thinking that Halia was hurt. Dear, sweet Halia, her baby sister.

"Bella!" she heard a familiar voice sob, only making Bella run faster into the dark caves.

"I'm coming, Halia!" she shouted back. Bella hit her head constantly, making her way into the dark cave. Her head throbbed as she ran, but Bella ignored it. Her lungs burned, but she ignored it too. Soon she entered a small room in the cave, lit by a single torch.

The first thing Bella saw was blood. she did not know what had happened, but both Rebekah and Halia were crying and were bloody. Bella ran to her little sister and pulled her into her arms. She gasped for air, her lungs and chest burning as she pushed Halia's hair out of her face soothingly.

"Shh, what happened Hallie?" she asked, looking over to Rebekah. The blonde was sniffling, uninjured. It was Halia's blood that stained her dress.

"I-I just wanted to reach the top, Bella. But then I fell," Halia bawled into her sister's dress. She had been trying to touch the top of the wall, for reasons only children knew, when she fell, breaking her leg and giving her a huge wound on it.

"Shh, Halia. You're okay, sweetheart," Bella soothed, before ripping a strip off of her dress and wrapping the wound on Halia's leg with it.

"Can you walk, Hallie?" she asked her softly, brushing her tears away.

Halia shook her head. "It hurts, Bella," she whimpered.

"What happened here?"

Bella looked up to see Elijah running to them. She met his gaze, as he looked from her, to Halia, to his own sister. "Halia hurt herself," she answered in an even voice.

"I can carry her," he offered, and Bella was suddenly jealous of her little sister. Still, she helped him pick her up.

The four walked out of the cave, Rebekah murmuring soothing things to her sniffling friend in her brother's arms. Bella walked next to Elijah, holding her little sister's hand silently.

"Were you supposed to be watching them?" Elijah asked her in a calm, stoic voice.

Bella nodded. "It was foolish of me, to let them be alone," she answered in a small, quiet voice.

"It was," he agreed, nodding once.

As soon as they walked out of the cave, Ester and Abigail rushed to them. Bella figured that Niklaus and Finn had told them about the screaming. "What happened?" Abigail demanded, taking her daughter out of Elijah's arms.

"Halia fell in the caves." Bella gulped as she explained, expecting punishment for not watching Rebekah and Halia carefully.

"Were you not with them, Bella?" Abigail stared at her daughter accusingly.

"I was," Elijah said suddenly. "It is my fault that Halia is hurt."

Bella opened her mouth to argue, but he silenced her with a look. "Elijah," Ester said, eyes wide. "How could you be so careless?"

Elijah hung his head, taking the blame for something he had not done. Bella frowned slightly at him. why had he done that for her?

That was the exact moment Bella's crush on Elijah Mikaelson had started.

Bella walked home from the market alone, only to run into Adrian and Adora. They were the oldest boy and girl of the Erikson family. The two were very close, like twins. They also had similar personalities. They were both leaders- leaders of the fairies. they were both cool, calm, and a little bossy. And both of them loved power. Bella loved Adrian and Adora, but sometimes they scared her with all their talk about fairies becoming more powerful than any werewolf or witch.

"Where are you two going?" Bella asked, the supplies she had bought at the market in her arms.

"Off to the caves," Adora answered vaguely. The two had been secretive lately, and spending a lot of time in the caves.

"Oh, well be careful. And be home for lunch!" Bella called to them as they left. She sighed and walked into her home. She set down her goods in the kitchen before walking to her mother's bedchamber. Abigail was in her bed, like always. She was silent and just gazed up at the ceiling, making no sound.

Abigail was beautiful, back in her day. She had bright blonde hair, like Adora's. but that blonde hair had turned prematurely gray, due to the illness that plagued her. she had bright green eyes, matching Bella's. she was short and small, like all of her daughters.

Bella frowned sadly at her mother, before pulling a chair up to her bedside. Before she had fallen ill, Bella and Abigail were very close. She would help her mother cook and clean and tell her all about her powers and what it was like, being a fairy. Abigail was thrilled, that her children were gifted. She used to say that she knew they were special, back when she could speak.

"I made a fool out of myself today, mother," Bella said quietly. Abigail gave no sign that she could even hear Bella. "In front of Elijah, no less."

Bella tended to do this every few days, talking to her vegetable of a mother. She liked to keep her up to date with her life, with their whole family's life. Even if Abigail couldn't hear her, she found it calming to talk to her.

"I tripped and fell right into his arms, spilling all of my gold. He helped me pick it up, of course, but I lost my ability to speak to him. I felt like such a fool, I embarrassed myself so badly. I can't even imagine what he thinks of me now." Bella sighed, blushing at the memory.

"But then again, I am half-in love with a man who barely knows I exist, so how much more pathetic can I get?" she said lightly, though the words were true. "I love the way he says my name, mother. When I get bored, I picture what our children would look like. They usually look like him, but our little girl has my eyes, in my mind." Bella knew how pathetic she was, and imagining her and Elijah's nonexistent kids just made it worse.

Bella sighed and pushed her bangs out of her face. "If Tatia did not exist, I like to think that I would have a chance with him. but no woman has a chance with a man in this village, so long as Tatia remains without a suitor," Bella said, playing with her sleeve.

Abigail did not answer, but Bella didn't expect her to. She was just there to listen, all she could do was listen. "I should start on lunch, mother," Bella said after a few silent moments, standing up.

Suddenly, Abigail grabbed Bella's arm, the first movement she had made in years. Her grip was very feeble, and her gaze did not move from a spot on the ceiling. Bella held her breath, waiting for Abigail to do or say something. She didn't.

She sighed and quietly pulled her arm free from her mother's grip. She didn't know what to think of her mother's sudden action, if it meant that she was slowly getting better. Bella didn't want to get her hopes up, so she turned around and walked out of her mother's bedchamber. She had lunch to prepare.

Bella let her thoughts wander as she prepared her family's meal. She thought about her and Elijah's nonexistent children. That was pretty sad and pathetic on her part, she had to admit. But Bella swore to herself that if and when she had a daughter- with or without Elijah- she would have her green eyes and her name would be Abigail.

~TLND~

A/N: thank you to: kk for the first review of the story!

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~Abby :)